


Part One: The Cell

by Rambert



Series: Join Me [1]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Emotional Manipulation, Headcanon, M/M, Mild Blood, Prison, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-07-27 18:03:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20050261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rambert/pseuds/Rambert
Summary: "You... have betrayed me!""No... I will stay with you."Find out what happens next in my saucy interpretation as I wait desperately for Season 3~!





	Part One: The Cell

**Author's Note:**

> Part one of 8, this is a long one and definitely a shameless soap opera romance crackfic by part 4 so strap in!! :D

"You... have betrayed me!"

"No... I will stay with you."

\--

What was surprising was that it didn't hurt.

It had felt strange at first when the bug crawled all the way into his ear, but now Viren couldn't even feel it. That would have disturbed him if he hadn't had much more pressing matters to worry about.

He'd only been down here in the dungeon a few hours but what he'd heard so far didn't sound good. They were going to have a trial, including summoning ambassadors from the other four kingdoms to testify against Viren's character during the Pentarchy, and if he was convicted of treason against Katolis... well. The punishment would be death. And considering the number of guards he'd just killed... his odds of not getting convicted weren't good.

When the cell guards had collected the food tray and left him alone on the block until morning, Aaravos 'spoke' for the first time since the skirmish in Viren's quarters. It was a deeper rumble now, feeling like a part of his core. Like he and Aaravos were now one.

_You have been betrayed by your own people, not by me. But if I can, I will help you escape._

"Escaping won't solve my problems," Viren sighed, shaking his head.

"That's why they aren't even bothering to guard me at night. The second I show my face somewhere the next day, I'd be recognized. I don't exactly have peasant clothes," the High Mage added disdainfully.

_Why must you bear the burden of Katolis's protection when they mistreat you so? You should consider yourself no longer responsible for this kingdom, and pursue what is best for Lord Viren himself. _

"And what might that be, hm? Any bright ideas?" Viren replied sarcastically, perhaps with a bit nastier of a tone than was warranted by the suggestion.

But Aaravos's response didn't convey any irritation, if he was feeling that.

_Yes, actually... you could join me. Here._

"...What?"

Viren's voice had lost its sarcasm now.

"That's not possible."

_Anything is possible,_ Aaravos's voice rumbled inside him.

_But the question is, do you desire it? A place where no one from your past can haunt you, a place where you will be safe to practice all the magics I can teach you?_

Viren had to admit that was pretty tempting.

Thankfully Aaravos couldn't actually hear his thoughts, though, and he kept his voice cold as he replied "So then instead of just _you_ stuck in this mirror, both of us would be trapped. No thank you."

_Unfortunately, me summoning you here is the only way I can assist you. If we had not ended up in this dungeon, I could have attempted to have you summon me out, but... alas. We ran out of time._

"What do you mean, 'we' ran out of time? You were the one who told me I needed to focus on my plan for the four kingdoms to join Katolis in the fight against Xadia!" Viren exclaimed, indignant.

"You never once mentioned that I could try to free you. I assumed it was magic beyond my power required to do so, since you are the 'scourge of Xadia' after all."

That's the only phrase he had seen in one of the ancient texts before the pages swirled into nothingness.

Aaravos's laugh curled around his insides, low and bitter.

_That is what they call me. You will have to decide whether I am that or not for yourself, Lord Viren._

"Stop playing coy!"

Viren's voice was rising to a shout as he scratched at his ear, feeling a terrible anger building inside him.

"If this is your idea of 'helping', I'd rather your foul little insect crawl out of me and leave me in peace!"

..._As you wish_.

Viren twitched as he suddenly felt the bug crawling on his ear; he pulled it off, watching it twist around in his hand.

"Lord Viren? Who are you talking to?"

One of the guards had heard Viren's shouting and had come up to the door, looking through the small peep hole.

"Just this centipede, sharing my woes," Viren sighed.

The guard shrugged, seeing no one else in the cell and going back to the end of the cell block. Nobody wanted to be too close to the necromancer who had killed so many palace guards already. Even though Viren was chained at the ankle and had been stripped of all his magical items including his staff and pouch, he was still eerie to be around now that his face looked the way it did.

Viren, meanwhile, was staring down at the bug moving over his fingers.

Half of him wanted to just crush it, and to try and use the mirror as leverage for him to not be hanged as a traitor to the kingdom. But ultimately... he knew that wouldn't work. Even if he proved who Aaravos was, the fact that he'd stored this mirror away for so long would look suspicious to the Council and the Pentarchy. And again, he'd killed all those people.

Half of him wanted to crush the bug just for the smug way Aaravos had _laughed_ at him...

He put the bug down on the stone floor of the dungeon, lifting his hand to smash it. It would be so easy...

But in his hesitation the bug skittered away, crawling up the wall into the corner against the ceiling. Viren couldn't have reached it now even if he wanted to.

And suddenly, for the first time in his life, Viren felt terribly and utterly alone.

\--

Five days later, Viren received news from a Council member that the envoys from the other four kingdoms were already on their way.

He was coldly informed that the trial would take place immediately as soon as they all arrived. Viren would not be seeing his children beforehand, because Claudia and Soren were still on their mission to find the princes and their precise location was not known, and no one could send word to them.

It was this last bit of news that crushed the fight out of Viren, and that night he cried in the cell.

The guards heard him and said nothing. After all, they had shed plenty tears over those Viren had murdered, when they had buried them and heard the despaired wails of their loved ones.

On the morning of the sixth day Viren woke up with a pounding headache from crying, and he couldn't magic it away like he normally would. He sat with his head between his knees, his breathing shallow. He spoke aloud to himself, for the first and last time during his stay in the dungeon.

"My children..."

After being alone with his thoughts for five days, his voice seemed so loud. Viren cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry Claudia," he murmured, knowing his daughter was far away and would never hear these words.

"I'm sorry I doomed you to a life of exile, for learning what I've learned and knowing what I know. They will punish you like they have punished me, and my reputation will haunt you for the rest of your days."

He sighed in defeat.

"And I'm sorry, Soren, for always comparing you to Claudia as if you were lesser. You've been a fine son. I love you both more than you could ever know."

Viren choked a little on the final words, his throat closing up, and spoke no more that day.

The next morning as he woke up the High Mage felt a tickle on his ear.

"...Aaravos...?"

His voice was a hoarse whisper, rusty from sleep. And when that deep bass voice rumbled through him once more Viren couldn't help the feeling of relief that swept through him of no longer being alone.

But that feeling didn't last long.

_Have you reconsidered? Based on what I have heard from the guards, you do not have much time left. We must act quickly if you wish to escape._

"What does it matter?" Viren muttered, scarcely the confident High Mage he was a week ago.

"I have no supplies, no abilities to perform incantations. I am... powerless."

_Hm. How quickly the proud Lord Viren unravels._

Aaravos waited for a snarky response, but when none came he pressed on:

_I_ _ have been preparing for the summoning ritual, in the time since you asked me to leave you be. I assumed you would rather join me here than die, but if you are going to be ungrateful I won't waste any more of my time._

"Then don't."

Viren closed his eyes, pressing his fingertips into the cold stone floor beneath him.

"Don't act like you're doing me any favors here. I know what you're doing. You say you wish to teach me, but really this is all a big plot to use me to free you."

_...And? Not like you would have done any different if you were in my shoes. _

Viren could appreciate how even while attempting to manipulate him, Aaravos didn't lie about it. He'd said early on that he never lied, and Viren was starting to maybe believe that.

"Probably you're right."

Viren sighed.

"But don't act like you're saving me, all right? I know I gave you attitude before, so I have no right to ask this of you. But we both know you summoning me is in your best interest, not mine."

_Fair enough. ...I would like you to reconsider my offer one last time,_ Aaravos said from within him.

_Come here with me, and I will teach you everything I know. It may or may not be useful to you, and it may or may not result in both of us being trapped here for eternity. I have been trying for... a long time, to escape this place. It took me a century to test this summoning spell. But I know that it works, and I know that the mirror cannot be destroyed by non-magical means. So in here, you will be alive and safe. That is all I can offer you._

"...A century...?"

How old _was_ Aaravos, anyway?

"So how do you know it works? Is someone else there with you?"

Aaravos laughed quietly.

_One moment... let me find them. _

After some rustling noises, Viren heard meowing and purring.

"...You have a cat?"

_Yes. This is Titania... out of all the nearby energies I contacted with my summoning spells over the years, they were the only being willing to join me here. And they are not just any cat... not a mortal one, anyway. I am very grateful they chose to be my companion here, or I may have gone mad. _

"So... how does this work?" Viren asked.

He was intrigued, now, after hearing those cat meows. If Aaravos had already successfully transported a living being to this mirror prison... then this might just be worth trying after all.

_Mmm, we have already done the hardest part,_ Aaravos said, and Viren heard Titania making little noises in the background.

_It is the connection of our voices and minds that is the most difficult. And if I had not seen you it would take much longer. But I have seen you many times now in the mirror and can picture your face clearly before me. Now all that is left is the ritual.. you must find something sharp nearby so that you can make a cut._

Viren looked around, eventually realizing that the chain on his ankle had a link that hadn't been pounded properly into smoothness at the time of its forging that had a tiny jagged piece of steel sticking out.

"Where do I need to make the cut?" he asked, and Aaravos replied _it does not matter, but you need to get the blood in a small pool so you can see a reflection in it. Let me know when you are ready._

"I'm ready," Viren said, although a small part of him was afraid.

Was he really going to abandon his life, his children, all for the promise of power?

But then Aaravos was speaking again, interrupting his doubts.

_Once you have the blood pool, you must look into it deeply. You will see the mirror. Look beyond it. You will see me. Look beyond it. You will hear my voice, chanting the incantation, but do not try to absorb it or understand it. Just keep looking beyond. Do you understand? _

"Yes," Viren replied, hoping he did not sound afraid.

_I am ready now_, Aaravos said, his voice vibrating through the core of Viren's being.

_When you are looking into the pool of blood, you must think nothing at all except looking beyond what you see in the mirror. _

"I understand. I'm going to make the cut now."

Viren heard Aaravos make a noise, a grunt of some sort as if he was lifting something heavy.

The High Mage tugged his wrist sharply against the jutting metal piece and made a small noise of pain as the skin yielded and he began to bleed. The cut was bigger than he had intended it to be and the blood pooled rapidly on the stones, flattening out into a somber red sheen.

Viren fought down the panic as he knelt in front of the pool, blood soaking into his robes as he looked at the shiny surface.

Suddenly the mirror swam into view before him-- he nearly gasped in shock even though it had appeared exactly as Aaravos had said it would-- this was magic he had not even read about.

And right on cue Aaravos began the incantation in his ear, and Viren could now _see_ him in the mirror, holding a large old tome and reading aloud from it. It was so fascinating that he nearly forgot the directive: _look beyond_.

Viren leaned in closer, his face nearly touching the blood pool.

He looked beyond Aaravos, to the bookshelf behind the elf and the fire in the fireplace. Then he looked beyond, to see Titania sitting in front of the window...

Then he looked beyond, to see through the window to a meadow outside, full of summer flowers and buzzing with insects as well as the rumble of Aaravos's voice inside his head...

Then he looked beyond, to see groves of tall pine trees, their branches droopy and laden with green needles, hummingbirds swarming around them...

Then he looked beyond, to the ocean shoreline, glorious and sprawling, waves tumbling across the rocky beach of the island where Aaravos was imprisoned...

Then he looked beyond, to the open sea where it met the horizon, where three suns were setting slowly in a purple sky...

Then he looked beyond, to the constellations above the ocean, star groupings in colors and numbers he'd never seen, to the comets zooming through the heavens, to the planets on their ever-rotating paths about the galaxy... the incantation was pounding in his ears, louder than his blood...

Suddenly, he felt a wrenching sensation throughout his body that started in his stomach and traveled outwards through his limbs.

Viren opened his mouth to scream, but nothing happened. He felt like he was falling, like he was dying. He could not move. He could not breathe. This was it... this was the end.

Except that it wasn't.

After a little while Viren came back to his body.

Had he passed out? His head _hurt_, and so did the rest of his body. He felt like he'd just gotten beat up.

Where was he...? What had happened...?

"Nnngh..."

Viren brought his hands up to his face with great difficulty, rubbing his eyes and cracking one open.

The first thing he saw was tall bookshelves, all around him.

The next thing he saw was the fire place, crackling, casting dancing shadows all over the walls. It was evening... he could see out the window and the night sky was bright with stars, but there were two moons.

Or... three? It was hard to tell in the firelight.

Aaravos had heard Viren stirring, and came over to where he'd laid out the necromancer on his couch-- initially Viren had showed up as a sprawled heap on his floor.

"Shhh... don't try to speak or move just yet," the elf said, leaning against the arm of the couch.

"You have traveled far in a very short time... your cells must adjust. Give them a chance to rest."

"Ghh..." Viren realized he was drooling and wiped his mouth on his sleeve, but hit his bare hand instead.

There was a bandage on the cut he'd made on his arm. His tongue felt leaden in his mouth, and he decided perhaps it wasn't worth it to try and talk right now. His eyes slid back closed, and he felt dizzy.

Luckily Aaravos must have considered this already, because the next thing Viren felt was a cool wet cloth being pressed gently against his forehead and he sighed in relief. The pain and the dizziness was soothed enough for the High Mage to slip back into slumber.

Aaravos smiled to himself watching Lord Viren fall asleep. The summoning spell was very rough on a human body, but in a day or two Viren would be fully recovered.

And now all Aaravos could think was _I am no longer alone._

**Author's Note:**

> I realize that when Viren says "You told me to stick to my plan!", that's not factually accurate. It's my intention to have Viren flustered and misremembering here, and Aaravos simply chooses not to acknowledge it because he's still manipulating Viren and saying what he wants to hear.
> 
> So yeah, no smut for a while in this one #slowburn thanks for reading though!
> 
> ALSO despite what happens later in the fic I'm not trying to humanize / redeem Viren here, as Harrow's #2 or as a father. He's very much a villain in the canon, and so is Aaravos probably. I'm just so obsessed with Aaravos that I want to write this tragedy for some reason lol. (Ok no more spoilers!!)


End file.
